Now, I’m expecting there won’t be too many hype pieces about the Baltimore Hawks this season. They have been mediocre at best with a sluggish offense. Despite a great leader in Chika Fujisawa (QB), the offensive side of the ball has been plagued with dropped passes and turnovers that have often left their defense on the field for many minutes or for short fields. Yet time and time again, the Hawks defense has risen to the challenge. They have some amazing stand-out performances, with not one but two league-leading tacklers. Ben Stakinpaper leads the ISFL with 73 tackles on the season, followed by Dex Kennedy with 67 tackles. We also have a defensive rookie of the year in the making in Etrigan T. Slayer, who has 26 tackles (11 for a loss), 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 2 sacks all in 7 games. Compared to his teammates, Ernest Lover has not had a standout start in terms of stat, averaging only 2 tackles per game. But what isn’t reflected in these stats is the fact that Lover eats space at the line of scrimmage, opening up lanes for the other playmakers on the team. Lover rarely goes single-blocked, often taking valuable offensive personnel out of plays. This makes the selfless Lover a valuable contributor to the Baltimore defensive despite his low numbers in the record books.
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